Top News

Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, could not resist bringing up Egypt's heartbreaking defeat to Argentina in the World Cup as he spoke to his constituents on Wednesday. The match has generated considerable headlines across the footballing world, with the manner of the defeat igniting widespread debate.

In the second half, Egypt were left incensed after VAR disallowed a goal, having concluded that a foul had occurred well over 20 seconds before Mostafa Zico put the ball in the net. Although Egypt pulled one back shortly afterwards, Argentina mounted a remarkable comeback in the final 20 minutes to clinch a 3-2 victory. The defeat was so controversial that one Egyptian star claimed the World Cup was "fixed", and Mamdani has now waded into the row to make his feelings known.

Addressing a crowd at the launch of a new initiative aimed at improving bus speeds, known as the "Next Stop: Better Buses, Faster Service" plan, Mamdani explained how the scheme would improve the everyday lives of New Yorkers.

However, the football enthusiast could not help drawing on Egypt's devastating last-16 exit to drive his point home.

"Now if you take the bus to work, that adds up fast," Mamdani said.

Within six months, you will have spent 24 fewer hours on the bus. By the time, by the time a year rolls around, you will have saved more than two days of commuting time.

"That means breakfast with your family. It means having the time to argue balls and strikes at your kid's Little League game. It means getting home for bedtime."

He then added: "It means agreeing with your friends that Egypt were robbed yesterday. Above all, it means time returned to New Yorkers who don't have nearly enough of it."

Following their loss to Argentina, numerous players from the Egypt squad and the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) expressed their displeasure over how proceedings transpired during the fixture.

In the hours following the defeat, the EFA is understood to have submitted an official complaint against French referee Francios Letexier and his officiating team.

The EFA took to social media to publish a statement reading: "The Egyptian Football Association cannot remain silent regarding the refereeing decisions witnessed during the match against Argentina as well as the failure to make appropriate use of the Video Assistant Referee [VAR] system.

"Several key incidents raised serious concerns and left profound questions about the consistency and fairness of decisions that directly influenced the course of the game.

"A number of football experts and specialist analysts, both locally and internationally, have highlighted controversial and influential refereeing incidents during the match.

"This underlines the importance of maintaining the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and transparency in match officiating, particularly in a competition of the stature and significance of the FIFA World Cup 2026."

The formal complaint follows Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan's impassioned press conference after the loss, during which he claimed that FIFA was tipping the match in favour of Lionel Messi and Argentina.

"A penalty was ruled out and a second [incident] that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR," he said.

"A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.

"There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome. Life is unfair. The world is unfair.

"OK, but why isn't there any fairness in sports? I'm not convinced by this outcome and by the way things unfolded in this match."